Astrophotography

LL Ori and the Orion Nebula
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage TeamExplanation: Stars can make waves in the Orion Nebula's sea of gas and dust. This esthetic close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis, interacting with the Orion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion's stellar nursery and still in its formative years, variable star LL Orionis produces a wind more energetic than the

Explanation: Could this close-by asteroid ever hit the Earth? Eventually yes -- but probably not for a very long time, even though the asteroid is expected to pass inside the orbit of the Moon next century. However, to better understand the nature and orbit of all near-Earth asteroids, NASA sent the robotic Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification,

Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even our own Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a modest central bar. Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, featured here, was captured in spectacular detail in an image taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. Visible are dark filamentary dust lanes, young clusters of bright blue stars, red emission nebulas of glowing

Mars in the Loop
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)Explanation: This composite of images spaced some 5 to 9 days apart, from late April (bottom right) through November 5 (top left), traces the retrograde motion of ruddy-colored Mars through planet Earth's night sky. To connect the dots and dates in this 2018 Mars retrograde loop, just slide your cursor over

Credit: SpaceX.
Explanation: Last week, a Tesla orbited the Earth. The car, created by humans and robots on the Earth, was launched by the SpaceX Company to demonstrate the ability of its Falcon Heavy Rocket to place spacecraft out in the Solar System. Purposely fashioned to be whimsical, the iconic car was thought a

Venus and the Triple Ultraviolet Sun
Image Credit: NASA/SDO & the AIA, EVE, and HMI teams; Digital Composition: Peter L. Dove (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pldove/)
Explanation: An unusual type of solar eclipse occurred in 2012. Usually, it is the Earth's Moon that eclipses the Sun. That year, most unusually, the planet Venus took a turn. Like a solar

New video by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. Sharing this as it's very interesting for all to know :)
The first 688 people to use this link will get 20% off their annual membership: http://brilliant.org/nutshell
Finding alien life on a distant planet would be amazing news - or would it? If we are not the only

Orionid Meteors Over Turkey
Credit & Copyright: Tunc TezelExplanation: Meteors have been flowing out from the constellation Orion. This was expected, as mid-October is the time of year for the Orionids Meteor Shower. Pictured above, over a dozen meteors were caught in successively added exposures over three hours taken this past weekend from a town near Bursa, Turkey. The